Multiple station forging machine with means to feed and transfer blanks



Sept. 22, 1964 R, U L 3,149,353

MULTIPLE STATION FORGING MACHINE WITH MEANS TO FEED AND TRANSFER BLANKS Flled June 22, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG I IN VEN TOR. ALBERT R. KULL ATTQRNEYS Sept. 22, 1964 A. R. KULL 3,149,353

MULTIPLE STATION FORGING MACHINE WITH MEANS T0 FEED AND TRANSFER BLANKS Filed June 22, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 6 INVENTOR. "2 ALBERT R. KULL omnm wmu ATTORNEYS R. KULL MULTIPLE STATION FORGING MACHINE WITH MEANS 1'0 FEED AND TRANSFER BLANKS Filed June 22. 1961 Sept. 22, 1964 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR.

ALBERT R. KULL I W B ATTORNEYS Sept. 22, 1964 L 3,149,353

MULTIPLE STATION FORGING MACHINE WITH MEANS TO FEED AND TRANSFER BLANKS Filed June 22, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 -W 09 us I |75 rm l'rs I80 [79 4 l78 FIG 7 INVENTOR.

ALBERT R. KULL mul 0mg,

ATTORNEYS United States Patent MULTHLE STATION FORGTNG MACHINE WITH MEANS T0 FEED AYD TRANSFER BLANKS Albert R. Kull, Beachwood, Ohio, assignor to The Ajax Manufacturing Company, Euclid, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed June 22, 1961, Ser. No. 118,853 11 Claims. (Cl. 12)

This invention relates generally, as indicated, to a feed mechanism for forging machines and more particularly to transfer mechanism for forging machines adapted to shift elongated blanks of circular cross-section from one position to another in a forging machine for the performance of upsetting operations thereon.

In an upsetting forging machine, such as is commonly employed for the manufacture of bolts or other elongated objects, the work may be shifted from one set of die cavities to another for performance of a series of upsetting operations thereon in a particular desired sequence. It is, of course, very much more efficient in the case of such an automatic machine to provide stock transfer means which will likewise be fully automatic in operation, and automatic stock transfer mechanisms are shown and described in Criley Patent No. 1,998,272 and Leinweber Patent No. 2,796,616, both assigned to The Ajax Manufacturing Company of Euclid, Ohio. The present invention represents further improvements in mechanisms of this nature. The Leinweber transfer mechanism is mounted on top of and generally in front of the machine to grasp workpieces projecting beyond the machine and it can readily be seen that where a backstop is employed in, for example, a cold extrusion operation, the transfer mechanism should preferably be incorporated with the dies themselves. Such mechanisms usually require a rather large amount of room in the die space and accordingly either the die or die support must be partially cut away to accommodate such transfer mechanism. It can be seen that a problem arises in machines of this type which operate with great rapidity and exert extremely high forging pressure in that it is desirable that the dies and die supports be as massive and rigid as possible. Moreover, in such extrustion operations, it may often be desirable to transfer the blank without causing the blank to rotate about its axis prior to the performance of the next forging operation.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to provide simplified automatic stock transfer mechanism of a type suitable for employment with forging machines, for example.

It is another main object to provide such simplified transfer mechanism which will not rotate the stock about its axis while transferring such stock to a subsequent work station.

It is yet another object to provide such transfer mechanism which can be incorporated in the dies of the forging machine without any substantial modification or reduction thereof.

It is a still further object to provide such transfer mechanism which will occupy a minimum amount of die space and which will not necessitate the substantial reduction of the weight or strength of such dies and their supports.

A further object is to provide such work transfer mechanism which will provide a positive blank stripping action from the die cavities for all of the vertically spaced forging stations.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims, the following description and the annexed drawings setting forth in detail certain illustrative embodiments of the invention, these being indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.

In said annexed drawings:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a commercially available Ajax forging machine well-known in the art, showing the transfer mechanism of the present invention mounted therein;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view showing the details of the die structure and the stock transfer mechanism therein;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section showing controls for such transfer mechanism taken substantially on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of such transfer mechanism with parts broken away taken substantially from the line 44 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal section of the die and transfer mechanism taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken substantially on the line 66 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of the electric and pneumatic control means employed effectively automatically to operate the transfer mechanism of the present invention.

Referring now more particularly to FIG. 1 of said annexed drawings, the embodiment of the present invention illustrated is adapted to be installed on a forging machine of well-known type which may comprise a main frame 1 carrying fixed dies 2 and 3 opposed to cooperating dies 4 and 5 mounted upon a reciprocable die slide 6. When the dies 4 and 5 are reciprocated toward dies 2 and 3 to grip a blank B therein, a header or upsetting tool 7 carried by header slide 8 may be reciprocated axially of such blank to upset the protruding end thereof to form such blank into the desired shape. The die slide 6 and header slide 8 are driven by a crankshaft which is operated by a main electric drive motor 9 which drives a large flywheel Zlii provided with an air operated clutch and brake shown generally at 11.

Die clamps 12 and 13 may be employed to hold the dies 2 and 3 to the machine frame and similarly die clamps 1e and 15 may be employed to hold the dies 4 and 5 on the die slide 6. The particular machine illustrated is especially adapted for the cold extrusion of starting motor shafts.

It is noted that the heading tool 7 extends beyond the header slide 8 and that there is provided an opening 20 between the maximum forward position of the face of the header slide and the gripping dies 3 and 5. Within such space there is provided a safety mechanism shown generally at 21 which includes an arm adapted to sense the position of an elongated blank B to detect whether or not one of the blanks has been pulled longitudinally from the gripping dies by becoming wedged or jammed in the heading tool. Such safety mechanism is mounted on a shaft 22 for oscillation and such shaft is in turn mounted on the cover plate 23 for the header slide. The shaft is driven for oscillation by an arm 24 mounted thereon which has a cam follower 25 on one end adapted to engage a linear cam 26 mounted on the top of the header slide. Thus reciprocation of the header slide will cause oscillation of the shaft 22 to cause oscillation of the safety device to detect the improper presence of a workpiece pulled longitudinally from the gripping die. Such safety mechanism may be operative through the clutch and brake mechanism 11 to stop immediately the operation of the machine. Reference may be had to my copending ap plication, Serial No. 118,805, filed even date herewith,

entitled Safety Device for Forging Machines, for a more complete disclosure of such safety mechanism.

The opposite side of the header slide 8 is provided with a cover plate 30, the outer end of which supports the transfer mechanism of the present invention generally shown at 31. Referring now additionally to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, and 6, it will be seen that the cover plates 23 and 30 are fastened to the machine frame as, for example, by the respective socket head cap screws shown at 32 and 33 and that such transfer mechanism 31 is mounted essentially on a bracket 34 which includes a flat support plate 35 which may be bolted to the cover plate 30 by the bolts shown at 36 and directly to the machine frame by the somewhat longer bolts shown at 37. The longer bolts will, of course, be clear of the header slide.

The bracket 34 includes an upstanding curved portion 38 adapted to extend over the recess 20 and such pro-- Vides a support for vertically extending piston-cylinder assembly 39. The outer end 40 of such bracket is provided with a bushing 41 to accommodate guide rod 42 therein. The rod 43 of such piston-cylinder assembly is connected to a horizontally extending arm 44 of spacing member 45 which is connected to the bottom of the guide rod 42. The sides of such spacing member are recessed and vertically extending transfer fingers 47 and 48 are connected thereto as by screws shown at 49. The thus spaced transfer fingers 47 and 48 are provided with a series of vertically equally spaced shoulder notches 50 (see FIG. 6), there being six such shoulders provided in the fingers 47 and 48, with the illustrated embodiment being a four station forging machine.

As seen in FIG. 5, the transfer finger 47 extends down- Wardly through a slot 51 in the die block 5 and the transfer finger .48 extends adjacent the face 52 of such die block.

The vertically movable transfer fingers cooperate with two slightly horizontally movable pusher bars 60 and 61 which are substantially vertically coextensive but horizontally opposed to the fingers 47 and 48 respectively and the pusher bar '60 is mounted in a vertically extending slot 62 in the die block 3 and the pusher bar 61 is mounted in a recessed portion 63 in the face 64 of the die block 3. The pusher bar 60 is mounted for relative horizontal movement on vertically spaced slender push rods 66 and 67, and similarly the pusher bar 61 is mounted on vertically spaced slender push rods 68 and 69. The push rods may be threadedly secured to the pusher bars and each of the rods extends through spaced bushings 70 and 71 in the die block 3, through apertures 72 in the stationary die side liner 73, and through elongated apertures 74 in the horizontally extending portion 75 of the bed frame 1. It is noted that the rods are undercut adjacent the juncture of the liner and die block to provide a slight clearance. Such rods project into an adapter plate 76 mounted on the-end face 77 of such frame portion 75 by a plurality of socket head cap screws showngenerally at 78 (see FIG. 4). Air cylinders 80, 81, 82 and 83 may be mounted on the outer face of such adapter plate with the rods 85 and 86 thereof adapted to engage and move the push rods 66 through 69. The piston-cylinder assemblies may be supplied with air under pressure as shown by the air lines 84 and such piston-cylinder assemblies 80 through 83 may, for example, have a 1% inch bore and a 1 inch stroke and be of the air-push, spring-return type. Such cylinders may preferably be supplied with about fifteen pounds of air pressure so that the piston rods and thus the push rods will exert a substantial resilient pressure on the pusher bars 60 and 61 tending to move them outwardly of the stationary die 3 to facilitate stripping of the workpieces from the cavities therein during the automatic operation of the machine.

The resiliently, short distance, horizontally movable pusher bars 60 and 61 cooperating with the vertically mov- 4 able transfer fingers 47 and 48 in essence constitute the transfer mechanism of the present invention.

Referring now more particularly to FIGS. 4, 5 and 6, it can be seen that such transfer mechanism can readily be incorporated within the die structures of the forging machine without substantially cutting such die structures away to lessen the mass or rigidity thereof. The only substantial reduction in the die will be the relatively small slots 51 and 62 accommodating the pusher bar 60 vis-a-vis the transfer finger 47. Such slots, however, separate vertically spaced horizontally separate die in serts 90 and 91 which may be fastened directly to the face of the die block 5 by screws or the like shown at 92 in FIG. 6. These die inserts are provided with substantially semi-circular cavities in the faces thereof which cooperate with similar cavities in die inserts 93 and 94 in the stationary die block 3. It is noted that the opposed faces of the die inserts cooperate to grip the blank B therebetween as shown more clearly in FIG. 6 and preferably the die insert 94 is movable through a very short distance, such die insert being moved by hydraulic piston 95 in cylinder 96 in adapter plate 76. Such piston moves push rod 97 extending through the portion 75 of the bed frame 1 to engage the extension 98 of the die insert to exert a substantial squeezing pressure on the blank B held between the die inserts 94 and 91. It will be understood that there may be four pairs of such die inserts fastened to each of the die blocks 3 and 5, each being vertically equally spaced to provide four forging stations at which the blank B will be gripped to be upset by the heading tool 7. The topmost position may be shown at 100, the next at 101, the next at 102, and the last shown where the blank B is in FIG. 6. A pistoncylinder assembly 104 may be employed to exert a substantial gripping pressure on the workpiece in the forging position 100, a piston-cylinder assembly 105 may be employed to exert such gripping pressure on the workpiece in the forging position 101, and a piston-cylinder assembly 106 may be employed to exert such gripping pressure on the work-piece in the forging position 102. All of the piston-cylinder assemblies 104, 105, 106 and 95, 96 are interconnected by a passageway 107 which may be connected to a source of hydraulic fluid under pressure through couplings 108 and 109. Such source may be an air operated fluid pressure booster delivering hydraulic fluid to such cylinders at about 3000 p.s.i. and such pressure will produce a squeezing pressure on the blanks held in the forging station of up to 400 tons. In this manner, the workpieces will be firmly gripped by the gripping dies so that the upsetting operation on the projecting end thereof will not cause the workpieces to slip longitudinally to be pulled out of the dies or to be pushed against back-stop die blocks 110 and 111 which cooperate with the dies 2 and 4. Reference may be had to my copending application, entitled Forging Machine Die Mechanism, filed even date herewith, Serial No. 118,806, for a more complete disclosure of the die mechanisms that may be employed with the present invention and the hydraulic back up therefor.

The die blocks 4, 111 and 5 may be held in the die slide 6 by sideliner 112 and thrust liner 113 (see FIG. 5) and similarly, the side liner 73 may cooperate with a thrust block 114 holding the die blocks 2, 110 and 3 in the stationary position in the machine frame. As seen in FIG. 6, bottom liners 115 and 116 may be employed supporting such die blocks on the die slide 6 and frame 1 respectively. As seen in FIG. 6, the die slide 6 extends beneath the frame on the opposite side of the machine as shown at 117 in phantom lines with such die slide extension fitting within a suitable slideway. Reference may be had to Criley Patent 1,966,925 for a more complete disclosure of a die slide that may be employed with the present invention.

The machine frame portion 120 underlying the bottom liner 116 for the stationary dies serves to support a guide member serving to enclose and guide the bottom ends 123 of the transfer fingers 47 and 48. It can now been seen that the vertically movable transfer fingers 47 and 48 are held horizontally stationary relative to the movement of the die slide 6 and the gripping dies held thereby since the top supporting bracket 34 is fastened to the machine frame and the bottom guide 121 is also fastened to the machine frame. Moreover, the pusher bars 69 and 61 are mounted for movement through a stroke of approximately of an inch in the illustrated embodiment and this movement is obtained by movement of the die slide 6 and the gripping dies held thereby. Accordingly, when the moving reciprocable gripping dies move into position to grip the workpieces, the movement will force the workpieces against the pusher bars 60 and 61 to compress the air within the air system of pistoncylinder assemblies 89 through 83 thus moving the pusher bars through the approximate /8 inch stroke.

Referring to FIG. 6, the blank B may be fed to the forging machine by means of a hopper 13d having a chute 131 and such hopper-chute is adapted to place such blanks on the top surfaces 132 of the pusher bars 6%) and 61 when the gripping dies are opened directly above the parting line P of the gripping dies. It can readily be seen that the top surfaces 132 of the pusher bars 6% and 61 will underlie the hopper chute 31 when the pusher bars are moved to the left by the pressure in air cylinders 89 through 83 as seen in FIG. 6. AS the die mechanisms close, the transfer fingers 47 and 48 being horizontally stationary, the cavities in the movable gripping dies will come in and remove the workpieces from the shouldered notches in the transfer fingers and force the pusher bars back against the pressure within the cylinders to the position shown more clearly in FIG. 6. This will permit a blank to drop onto pairs of cooperating workpiece supports 135 and 136 mounted on the top of the die blocks 5 and 3 and the blanks B held. thereby will be engaged by a spring plunger 137 mounted in threaded stud 133 threaded into the tool holder clamp 139 which securely clamps the tool holder 7 to the header slide 8. Bolts may be employed firmly to hold the clamp and thus the tool holder 7 in place. A tool holder wedge 142 may also be employed when securing such tool holder to the header slide.

The spring plunger 137 pushes the blank B against a gauging backstop 143 and the blank B is now in proper vertical alignment to be fed downwardly through the work stations of the forging machine.

After the heading tool has been retracted a certain distance, the gripping dies will open, which in the illustrated embodiment may be a 3 /2 inch opening, and it will be seen when such gripping die starts to open the spring pressure exerted by the air cylinders 80 through 83 will cause the pusher bars to move to the left as seen in FIG. 6 pushing the blanks out of the cavities in the stationary gripping dies. This will push the blanks into the notches 5% in the transfer fingers 47 and 48 to be held thereby by the spring pressure exerted through such cylinders. The moving die 5 will, of course, continue to move away and the horizontally stationary transfer fingers will then positively strip the blanks from the movable gripping die cavities as such dies are withdrawn. With the blanks now in the notches St the piston-cylinder assembly 39 can be actuated to move the fingers 47 and 48 downwardly a distance equal to the distance between such notches and the blanks, clear of both the gripping cavities, will move downwardly to the next or succeeding work station. The stroke of the piston-cylinder assembly 39 can be controlled by a bottom stop in the form of two socket set screws 14B and 141 as seen in FIG. 2, mounted in the member 45, one of which will contact the top of the die lock 5 to control the bottom stopping position and the other of which may contact the bottom surface of the guide bracket 34. In the illustrated embodiment, such stroke may, for example, be 2 /4 inches, this being the distance between the vertically spaced die gripping cavities.

The Shape of the notches 59 in the vertically movable guide fingers 47 and 48 is such that the top surface 142 thereof extends substantially normal to the direction of travel of the fingers to form a top or undersurface for such notch which will contact the blanks B approximately from their point of contact with the pusher bars 60 and 61. The inner surfaces of such notches extend substantially parallel to the pusher bar as shown at 143 and the side opposite to such shoulder surface 142 is inclined as shown at 144 at substantially 45. It has been found that a notch of this type will firmly hold the blanks B so that vertical movement of the rod 43 will cause the blanks B to move downwardly along the smooth edge 145 of the pusher bars 6% and 61 without such blanks rotating about their axes. In this manner, the stock is well gripped and wedged by such notches and is pushed directly downwardly to be slid along the surfaces 145 to be positioned at the next work station. The sloping bottom surfaces 144 and the tops 142 of such notches cooperate firmly to hold the blanks for such sliding movement along the pusher bars. It is noted that the bottom notch 146 (see 3516. 7) has no bottom surface so that such notch will serve merely to force the finished stock to drop into the opening 1 37 to be guided by the beveled surfaces 148 of the guide 12 1' to be positioned on an exit conveyor, not shown, which will extend normal to the plane of FIG. 6.

Operation Referring now additionally to FIGS. 3 and 7, it will be seen that automatic cyclic operation of the transfer mechanism may be obtained by a four-way momentary contact double solenoid operated air valve 15%) adapted alternately to supply air from a source 151 through a regulator 152 and air gauge 153 to air lines 154- and 155 leading to the blind and rod ends respectively of the cylinder 3?. Pneumatic flow control valves 156 and 157 may be employed in such lines 15-! and 155. In order to lower the fingers 4-7 and 48, the solenoid 16% is energized by the closing of switch 161. Such switch is provided with a contact arm 3 2 adapted to engage a trip 1'63 mounted on the die slide 6 by means of bolts or the like 164. (See FIG. 3.) The switch may be mounted on die slide cover plate adjacent the die slide 6 and horizontal reciprocation of the die slide will cause movement of the arm 162 to close switch 161 to energize solenoid 169 to lower the fingers. It is noted that in FIG. 7, the arm is shown in position to close the switch 161 to lower the fingers and in FIG. 3, the arm is shown in position to open the switch 161. The solenoid 166 is energized through lines 166 and 167 through a convenient source of 110 volt A.C. current shown at 168. In order to raise the fingers, the solenoid 174) will be energized by switch 171 which is shown closed in the FIG. 7 position and opened in the FIG. 3 position. Such switch is contacted by a limit switch trip 172 having an adjustable screw stop 173 thereon, such trip being fastened to the die slide 6 as shown at 174. The solenoid is energized through lines 175 and 176 from a convenient source 177 of 110 volt A.C. current.

Air may be supplied to the piston-cylinder assemblies 39 through 83 from a convenient source 173 through a regulator 179 and air gauge 18% to supply air at approximately 15 pounds per square inch to the lines 84 leading to such piston-cylinder assemblies.

It can now be seen that as the die slide 6 moves forward, the arm 162 will be moved to the position shown in FIG. 3 to open the switch 161 and the screw stop 173 will contact the switch 171 to close lines 175 and 176 to energize solenoid 17% to raise the fingers. As the die slide is retracted, the switch 161 will close automatically as the trip 163 allows the arm 162 to move to the FIG. 7 position energizing solenoid 169 to extend piston-cylinder assembly 39 lowering the fingers 47 and 48 when the die slide has thus been retracted. It will, of course, be seen that the strategic positioning of the switch trips on the die slides can readily control the instant at which the vertical movement of the fingers 47 and 48 is obtained.

In setting up the cycle, bars or dummies may be inserted into the die notches which hold the pusher bars 60 and 61 back with the air in cylinders 80 through 83 temporarily off. The air in such cylinders may then be turned on at about 15 p.s.i. and this then holds the bars in place in the feed finger notches 50. The cycle of the machine is then started and the moving dies will move to the right as seen, for example, in FIG. 6 closing on the workpieces and moving the workpieces and thus the pusher bars to the right against the pressure of the air in the cylinders 89 through 83. This opens up the fingers and pushers to allow a workpiece to drop into the space therebetween by moving the top surfaces 132 of the pusher bars out from under the chute. The workpiece will then be retained by the supports 135 and 136 on the top of the dies and 3 respectively. These stops will hold the workpiece aligned with the top notch in the fingers 47 and 48. The workpieces are now gripped in all of the dies and such workpieces are out of the notches in the feed finger bars as shown by the full line positions of such workpieces in FIG. 6. The fingers 47 and 43 will have moved upwardly by actuation of the vertically extending piston-cylinder 39 to place the top notch in a position laterally adjacent the workpiece held by the stops 135 and 136. During this time, the heading tool comes forward to engage and upset the extending portions of the workpieces thus gripped by the die. The dies stay closed until the header returns a predetermined distance and then the dies open and as the moving gripping die moves to the left as seen in FIG. 6, the pusher bars automatically follow the movable gripping dies stripping the workpieces from the stationary die cavities and holding such workpieces in the notches in the moving die cavities until the moving die has withdrawn enough to leave the workpieces in the notches of the fingers and in this manner to strip them from the moving die cavities. Further retraction of the die slide 6 will close switch 161 to energize solenoid 160 to cause the fingers 47 and 48 to lower moving the stock downwardly a distance equal to one notch, the die slide then returns to grip the thus repositioned workpieces in the succeeding cavities and engagement of the workpieces with the pusher bars will cause the top surfaces thereof to move outwardly from beneath the chute 131 to allow the next workpiece to drop into the stops 135 and 136 to be gauged and gripped when the fingers 47 and 48 have returned due to the closing of switch 171 and the subsequent opening of the gripping die which results in the movement of the pusher bars to push the stock into the now repositioned notches in such transfer fingers.

It can now be seen that the mounting of the pusher bars 60 and 61 by means of a plurality of vertically spaced air spring cylinders ensures that the force exerted on the vertically spaced workpieces will be the same throughout the vertical extent of the forging operation. Moreover, the use of elongated pusher bars extending through the frame of the machine permits the pusher bars to be mounted directly in the die mechanism without substantially reducing the mass or rigidity thereof. Also, the particular shape of the wedge type notch in the transfer fingers 47 and 48 ensures that the workpieces will be firmly gripped thereby and pushed along the surfaces of the pusher bars without a rolling action which is some forging operations cannot be tolerated.

It can also be .seen that the strategic positioning of the trips 163 and 172 on the die slide will control the movement of the vertically extending fingers 47 and 48 through the piston-cylinder 39. In this manner, the cooperative action of the cavities in the movable gripping dies, the position of the notches in the transfer fingers and the pressure of the pusher bars 60 and 61 can closely be controlled to obtain a rapid smooth operation of such transfer mechanism.

Also, the mounting of the vertically extending guide fingers 47 and 48 in the frame member to extend downwardly through the die structures permits such transfer fingers to be employed as a positive stripping means located centrally of the workpieces (see FIG. 6) for the die cavities while not in any way interferring with the operation thereof.

Other modes of applying the principle of the invention may be employed, change being made as regards the detais described, provided the features stated in any of the following claims or the equivalent of such be employed.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention:

1. In an upsetting forging machine having a stationary gripping die, a horizontally reciprocable gripping die adapted to be reciprocated into and out of work-gripping relationship to said stationary die, and a third die horizontally reciprocable in a direction normal to such reciprocation of said reciprocable gripping die to engage and upset an end portion of a workpiece thus gripped by said gripping dies; work feed and transfer means comprising a chute disposed above said gripping dies and adapted to deliver cylindrical blanks downwardly by gravity directly above the parting line of said gripping dies and parallel thereto, said chute being dimensioned to deliver such blanks to be gauged to proper longitudinal position for subsequent gripping by said gripping dies with a desired end portion of the blank protruding therebeyond for performance of such upsetting operation thereon; a first support on said reciprocable gripping die, a second support on said stationary gripping die adapted to cooperate to receive such blank from said chute when said reciprocable gripping die is in closed position, a plurality of vertically spaced pairs of opposed die cavities in the respective work-engaging faces of such gripping dies, said pairs of cavities being vertically spaced distances equal to the vertical distance separating said supports and the uppermost of such cavities, laterally spaced vertically disposed pusher bars having work-engaging faces parallel to the work-engaging faces of said gripping dies, means mounting said pusher bars for horizontal reciprocation in a direction parallel to that of said reciprocable gripping die to engage each blank extending between said gripping (lies, a plurality of vertically spaced resilient means extending completely through said stationary gripping die urging said pusher bars into engagement with such blanks; fixed vertical guide means, a pair of transfer fingers horizontally opposed to said pusher bars mounted in said guide means for vertical reciprocation therein, vertically extending slots horizontally opposed in said gripping and stationary dies to accommodate said transfer fingers and pusher bars, respectively, power means for reciproating said transfer fingers in timed relation to the opening and closing movement of said reciprocable gripping die, a series of notches in said transfer fingers vertically spaced a distance equal to that between adjacent upper and lower die cavities in said gripping dies, means regulating the reciprocation of said transfer fingers from a position with the uppermost notch opposite said supports to a position opposite the uppermost pair of die cavities therebelow and a corresponding return movement whereby a notch is shifted from a position opposite each pair of die cavities to a position opposite the next pair of such cavities therebelow except that the lowermost notch is shifted from a position opposite the lowermost pair of cavities to a work-discharging position .therebelow; means operative to retract said reciprocable gripping die away from said stationary die and beyond said transfer fingers whereby said resiliently supported pusher bars follow such movement first clearing such blanks from the die cavities in said stationary gripping die and then pressing such blanks within the opposed notches on said transfer fingers, means operative to actuate said power means to reciprocate said transfer fingers downwardly after said transfer fingers have stripped such blanks from the cavities in said reciprocable gripping die to slide such blanks downwardly along said pusher bars, while precluding rotation thereof, positioning such blanks opposite the next lower pairs of die cavities, means operative thereupon to advance said reciprocable gripping die to engage such blanks in their new positions and carry them out of engagement with said respective notches in the transfer fingers and carry them into gripping engagement with said stationary gripping die, said pusher bars being forced resiliently back during such advancement of said reciprocable gripping die; and means operative again to elevate said transfer fingers after such blanks have been thus carried out of engagement with such notches.

2. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said guide means includes a bracket mounted on the machine frame extending over said reciprocable gripping die, and a guide bracket vertically aligned therewith secured to the machine frame beneath said stationary gripping die, said brackets supporting said transfer fingers for vertical movement.

3. The forging machine of claim 1 wherein said resilient means comprises vertically spaced pneumatic piston-cylinder means.

4. The mechanism of claim 1 wherein said resilient means comprises pneumatic piston-cylinder means mounted on the outside of the machine frame, and rod means extending through said machine frame and through the stationary gripping die on which said pusher bars are mounted, said rod means being actuated by said pneumatic piston-cylinder means.

5. The mechanism set forth in claim 1 wherein said notches in said transfer fingers have a horizontal upper surface, a vertically extending inner surface, and an inclined lower surface adapted to engage and wedge such cylindrical blanks to slide the same along the surfaces of said pusher bars without rotating such blanks.

6. In an upsetting forging machine having a stationary gripping die, a horizontally reciprocable gripping die adapted to be reciprocated into and out of cooperative work-gripping relationship to said stationary die, and a third die horizontally reciprocable in a direction normal to such reciprocation of said reciprocable gripping die to engage and upset an end portion of a workpiece thus gripped by said gripping dies, work feed and transfer means comprising a resiliently mounted pusher bar member mounted in said stationary die along which such workpieces are adapted to slide, reciprocable workpiece engaging means operative to engage such workpieces to slide them along said pusher bar member from station-tostation in said gripping dies, said pusher bar having a work-engaging surface sufiiciently smooth to insure sliding action of such workpieces therealong, said stationary gripping die being spaced rearwardly of the work-engaging face of said resiliently mounted pusher bar, said movable gripping die being mounted for reciprocation transversely of the path of movement of said reciprocable workpiece engaging means to engage such workpieces and carry them out of engagement with said reciprocable workpiece engaging means and into engagement with said stationary die, said pusher bar member and said reciprocable workpiece engaging means being mounted in horizontally opposed vertical slots within said stationary die and said movable die, respectively, push rods extending through said stationary die attached to said pusher bar member, and means mounted on said machine beyond said stationary die operative to engage the ends of said iii push rods to exert a resilient backup force on said pusher bar member, said last-mentioned means being resiliently yielding to accommodate the transverse movement of said movable gripping die.

7. In an upsetting forging machine having a stationary gripping die, a horizontally reciprocable gripping die adapted to be reciprocated into and out of cooperative work-gripping relationship to said stationary die, and a third die horizontally reciprocable in a direction normal to such reciprocation of said reciprocable gripping die to engage and upset an end portion of a workpiece thus gripped by said gripping dies, work feed and transfer means comprising a resiliently mounted pusher bar member mounted in said stationary die along which such workpieces are adapted to slide, reciprocable workpiece engaging means operative to engage such workpieces to slide them along said pusher bar member from station-to-station in said gripping dies, said pusher bar having a workengaging surface sulficiently smooth to insure sliding action of such workpieces therealong, said stationary gripping die being spaced rearwardly of the work-engaging face of said resiliently mounted pusher bar, said movable gripping die being mounted for reciprocation transversely of the path of movement of said reciprocable workpiece engaging means to engage such workpieces and carry them out of engagement with said reciprocable workpiece engaging means and into engagement with said stationary die, said pusher bar member resiliently yielding to acommodate such transverse movement, said pusher bar member and said reciprocable workpiece engaging means being mounted in horizontally opposed vertical slots within said stationary die and said movable die, respectively, push rods extending through said stationary die attached to said pusher bar and through the machine frame laterally adjacent thereto, and piston-cylinder assemblies mounted on the exterior of said machine frame to engage the ends of said push rods to exert a resilient backup force on said pusher bar member.

8. A forging machine as set forth in claim 7 wherein said pusher bar is provided with two substantially vertically spaced push rods having individual piston-cylinder assemblies exerting a resilient backup pressure thereon.

9. A forging machine as set forth in claim 8 including a bracket having guide means therein extending over the reciprocable gripping die in its closed position, and guide means vertically aligned therewith fastened to the machine frame beneath said stationary gripping die, said reciprocable workpiece engaging means being mounted in said guide means for vertical reciprocation.

10. A forging machine as set forth in claim 9 including a piston-cylinder assembly mounted on said bracket adapted to reciprocate vertically said workpiece engaging means.

11. The forging machine as set forth in claim 10 including vertically spaced notch means in said vertically reciprocable work-engaging means, said notch means comprising a horizontal top surface, a vertically extending inner surface, and a lower inclined surface adapted to engage and wedge such workpieces against rotation to he slid along the smooth surface of said pusher bar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,899,179 Beutel et al Feb. 28, 1933 2,796,616 Leinweber June 25, 1957 2,835,152 Lamprecht May 20, 1958 3,007,181 Felber Nov. 7, 1961 

1. IN AN UPSETTING FORGING MACHINE HAVING A STATIONARY GRIPPING DIE, A HORIZONTALLY RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE ADAPTED TO BE RECIPROCATED INTO AND OUT OF WORK-GRIPPING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID STAIONARY DIE, AND A THIRD DIE HORIZONTALLY RECIPROCABLE IN A DIRECTION NORMAL TO SUCH RECIPROCATION OF SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE TO ENGAGE AND UPSET AN END PORTION OF A WORKPIECE THUS GRIPPED BY SAID GRIPPING DIES; WORK FEED AND TRANSFER MEANS COMPRISING A CHUTE DISPOSED ABOVE SAID GRIPPING DIES AND ADAPTED TO DELIVER CYLINDRICAL BLANKS DOWNWARDLY BY GRAVITY DIRECTLY ABOVE THE PARTING LINE OF SAID GRIPPING DIES AND PARALLEL THERETO, SAID CHUTE BEING DIMENSIONED TO DELIVER SUCH BLANKS TO BE GAUGED TO PROPER LONGITUDINAL POSITION FOR SUBSEQUENT GRIPPING BY SAID GRIPPING DIES WITH A DESIRED END PORTION OF THE BLANK PROTRUDING THEREBEYOND FOR PERFORMANCE OF SUCH UPSETTING OPERATION THEREON; A FIRST SUPPORT ON SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE, A SECOND SUPPORT ON SAID STATIONARY GRIPPING DIE ADAPTED TO COOPERATE TO RECEIVE SUCH BLANK FROM SAID CHUTE WHEN SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE IS IN CLOSED POSITION, A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY SPACED PAIRS OF OPPOSED DIE CAVITIES IN THE RESPECTIVE WORK-ENGAGING FACES OF SUCH GRIPPING DIES, SAID PAIRS OF CAVITIES BEING VERTICALLY SPACED DISTANCES EQUAL TO THE VERTICAL DISTANCE SEPARATING SAID SUPPORTS AND THE UPPERMOST OF SUCH CAVITIES, LATERALLY SPACED VERTICALLY DISPOSED PUSHER BARS HAVING WORK-ENGAGING FACES PARALLEL TO THE WORK-ENGAGING FACES OF SAID GRIPPING DIES, MEANS MOUNTING SAID PUSHER BARS FOR HORIZONTAL RECIPROCATION IN A DIRECTION PARALLEL TO THAT OF SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE TO ENGAGE EACH BLANK EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID GRIPPING DIES, A PLURALITY OF VERTICALLY SPACED RESILIENT MEANS EXTENDING COMPLETELY THROUGH SAID STATIONARY GRIPPING DIE URGING SAID PUSHER BARS INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SUCH BLANKS; FIXED VERTICAL GUIDE MEANS, A PAIR OF TRANSFER FINGERS HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED TO SAID PUSHER BARS MOUNTED IN SAID GUIDE MEANS FOR VERTICAL RECIPROCATION THEREIN, VERTICALLY EXTENDING SLOTS HORIZONTALLY OPPOSED IN SAID GRIPPING AND STATIONARY DIES TO ACCOMMODATE SAID TRANSFER FINGERS AND PUSHER BARS, RESPECTIVELY, POWER MEANS FOR RECIPROATING SAID TRANSFER FINGERS IN TIMED RELATION TO THE OPENING AND CLOSING MOVEMENT OF SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE, A SERIES OF NOTCHES IN SAID TRANSFER FINGERS VERTICALLY SPACED A DISTANCE EQUAL TO THAT BETWEEN ADJACENT UPPER AND LOWER DIE CAVITIES IN SAID GRIPPING DIES, MEANS REGULATING THE RECIPROCATION OF SAID TRANSFER FINGERS FROM A POSITION WITH THE UPPERMOST NOTCH OPPOSITE SAID SUPPORTS TO A POSITION OPPOSITE THE UPPERMOST PAIR OF DIE CAVITIES THEREBELOW AND A CORRESPONDING RETURN MOVEMENT WHEREBY A NOTCH IS SHIFTED FROM A POSITION OPPOSITE EACH PAIR OF DIE CAVITIES TO A POSITION OPPOSITE THE NEXT PAIR OF SUCH CAVITIES THEREBELOW EXCEPT THAT THE LOWERMOST NOTCH IS SHIFTED FROM A POSITION OPPOSITE THE LOWERMOST PAIR OF CAVITIES TO A WORK-DISCHARGING POSITION THEREBELOW; MEANS OPERATIVE TO RETRACT SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE AWAY FROM SAID STATIONARY DIE AND BEYOND SAID TRANSFER FINGERS WHEREBY SAID RESILIENTLY SUPPORTED PUSHER BARS FOLLOW SUCH MOVEMENT FIRST CLEARING SUCH BLANKS FROM THE DIE CAVITIES IN SAID STATIONARY GRIPPING DIE AND THEN PRESSING SUCH BLANKS WITHIN THE OPPOSED NOTCHES ON SAID TRANSFER FINGERS, MEANS OPERATIVE TO ACTUATE SAID POWER MEANS TO RECIPROCATE SAID TRANSFER FINGERS DOWNWARDLY AFTER SAID TRANSFER FINGERS HAVE STRIPPED SUCH BLANKS FROM THE CAVITIES IN SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE TO SLIDE SUCH BLANKS DOWNWARDLY ALONG SAID PUSHER BARS, WHILE PRECLUDING ROTATION THEREOF, POSITIONING SUCH BLANKS OPPOSITE THE NEXT LOWER PAIRS OF DIE CAVITIES, MEANS OPERATIVE THEREUPON TO ADVANCE SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE TO ENGAGE SUCH BLANKS IN THEIR NEW POSITIONS AND CARRY THEM OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID RESPECTIVE NOTCHES IN THE TRANSFER FINGERS AND CARRY THEM INTO GRIPPING ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID STATIONARY GRIPPING DIE, SAID PUSHER BARS BEING FORCED RESILIENTLY BACK DURING SUCH ADVANCEMENT OF SAID RECIPROCABLE GRIPPING DIE; AND MEANS OPERATIVE AGAIN TO ELEVATE SAID TRANSFER FINGERS AFTER SUCH BLANKS HAVE BEEN THUS CARRIED OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SUCH NOTCHES. 